7
Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat?
France, like much of Europe, experienced record breaking temperatures last month. Photograph: Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen France, like much of Europe, experienced record breaking temperatures last month. Photograph: Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty Images Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat? The first heatwaves of the season reveal how ill-prepared governments across the continent are to protect people from increasingly dangerous temperatures Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here M eteorological summer has begun, ushered in with scorching heat that struck before spring was up. Although western Europe is now mostly free from last week’s heat dome – which shattered temperature records for May in the UK and Ireland – it is already bracing for yet another sweltering summer . Oppressive days, restless nights and furious fires are brewing. On Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organisation warned us all to prepare for the imminent return of the warming weather pattern El Niño. Scientists have not worked out how many people died during this latest bout of hot weather, but one environmental epidemiologist’s early modelling pegged it at 250 extra deaths in the UK alone on the weekend before temperatures peaked. The full death toll is likely to be particularly high because the heat struck before people had properly adjusted their behaviour to stay safe in the heat. Before I look at what’s being done to keep us safe as temperatures climb, let’s consider three points that slightly spoiled my ability to enjoy these hot early summer days (I promise there is a bright spot at the end). First, heat kills more people in Europe than almost any other issue you worry about – from crime to terror attacks – with many tens of thousands of early deaths each year. Second, burning fossil fuels has already made heatwaves hotter, longer and more deadly – a study in September attributed two in every three heat deaths in European cities to climate breakdown. Third, simple steps to save lives, many of which are cheap or would pay for themselves in the long run, are largely absent from national politics. A survey of European countries in 2024 found just 21 of 38 had heat-health action plans. Efforts to turn carparks into green spaces are often still considered radical. There are exceptions to the collective denial, such as the rise of climate shelters in which people can take refuge, cool down and drink a glass of water. European cities tend to lack the huge sports facilities used as cooling centres in the US and Australia but what air-conditioning they do have is often in big public buildings – such as schools, museums, libraries – that are well-known and easy to reach. Ana Terra Amorim-Maia, a researcher at the Basque Centre for Climate Change, said “the thing that clicked” in Barcelona was the realisation that minor investments could open these spaces to citizens in need. The task for local governments and owners of
